


Steve... from Brooklyn

by the_ellum



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF May Parker (Spider-Man), F/M, M/M, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Tony Stark Coparenting Peter Parker, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Steve Rogers Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Steve dating Aunt May, Supportive May Parker (Spider-Man), Swearing, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:28:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24375052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_ellum/pseuds/the_ellum
Summary: May is dating Steve from Brooklyn. Full name: Steve Rogers, best known as: Captain America.Peter tries very hard not to freak out. He knows Steve as Spider-Man. But Steve doesn't know that he is Spider-Man. He also doesn't know that he an May know Tony.What even is Peter's life?
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man)/Steve Rogers, Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 222
Kudos: 867





	1. The new boyfriend

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone :)  
> As promised. Something a little bit more light-hearted. I got this idea when a read a story about May and Sam dating. And I love Sam, but i think Steve and May dating has so much more comedic potential.  
> I'm sorry for any mistakes I made. English is not my first language. 
> 
> Oh, and Tony and Rhodey are dating in this story. I love Pepper Potts but I love Iron husbands even more :)  
> Have fun!

Peter was nervous. Sure thing, after Ben’s death, May had had a few dates. But these dates were never serious. At least not: “Come meat my nephew” – serious. No, May had never brought them home. So, Peter was nervous. What if he didn’t like the guy? What if the guy didn’t like him? What if May realised Peter only was a burden and dumped him? – Okay, no. May larped him. She would never do that. But he also didn’t want to give May the feeling that she had to choose between him and her new boyfriend.

The last time Peter had been so nervous, was when Tony had introduced him to the Rogues four month ago. Well nor him as Peter, but him as Spider-Man. He still was the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, but sometimes he was allowed to help the Avengers. Most of it was getting civilians out of the danger zone. A job he quite liked – especially because a lot of older ladies gave him sweet in return for his help. Unnecessary, but still very welcomed. So, meeting the Rogues after they had gotten pardoned was essential. The first meeting had been very tense. The line between “Team Cap” and “Team Iron Man” still very clear. But it had gone over without a – big – fight. And since then things had gotten a lot better. But he knew that the Rogues were still a little bit wary of him, because none of them knew his real identity. A topic neither Peter nor Mr. Stark were up to negotiating.

The circle of people that knew Spider-Man’s real identity was small. Ned, Mr. Stark, Happy, Colonel Rhodes, Peter himself and Aunt May. Peter still shuddered when he was thinking about the time May had found out what he did in his free time. And he was pretty sure that Mr. Stark still had nightmares about that particular conversation. If Peter was honest, it was more of an one-sided screaming match. May was the one screaming and Mr. Stark let it happen.

Peter got house arrest for two weeks, a curfew for his Spider-Manning, and a real Internship with Mr. Stark. Every Tuesday and Thursday after school he swung to the (bought back and renamed) Stark-Tower, where he worked in the lab with Mr. Stark. And every second weekend he stayed over at the compound. Again, doing lab work, training with the Avengers and movie night. Sometimes even with all the Avengers. He had to wear his mask for these evenings, but it was still awesome.

A curse coming from the kitchen interrupted Peter’s thoughts. He peeked into it and saw May holding her fingers in a glass of water.

“Everything alright?”, he asked with furrowed eyebrows.

“Yeah, everything’s fine, Pete. Just burned my fingers a little.” May smiled at him and turned around to the pots she had on the stove.

“You sure it was a good idea to cook?”, Peter asked with a shit-eating grin. May simply wasn’t the best cook. “Oh, let me guess. You do not like him and want to get rid of him with your cooking.”

“Peter Benjamin Parker. Watch your mouth or Steve will not be the one I am getting rid of. Besides it’s Spaghetti Bolognese. There aren’t so many thing one can do wrong.”

Peter’s grin got even wider. Their banter helped him to calm his nerves.

“So Steve… And where does he come from again?”

“He grew up in Brooklyn and he has to travel quite a bit for his job.”, May explained.

“Ooooh, does he have a nice Brooklyn accent?”, Peter teased her.

“Well…”, her answer was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“He’s here. I haven’t brushed my hair yet.” May started to panic. “Pete, can you get the door and make Smalltalk while I’m in the bathroom freshening up real quick?”

“Sure thing, May.”

May hurried into their small bathroom and he got to answer the door. He opened it and – froze.

“Hi, you must be Peter.”, May’s boyfriend introduced himself. “I’m Steve-“ – “From Brooklyn.”, Peter interrupted him. On his inside he was screaming. _Steve from Brooklyn. Steve from Brooklyn. Steve from Brooklyn_ was freaking Captain America. Captain America! War hero, Avenger and Peter’s kind of teammate. Well Spider-Man’s kind of teammate. Because there was no way that _Steve from Brooklyn_ could know what Peter did with his free time. He was just the nephew of the woman Steve dated.

“Yeah, I’m from Brooklyn. Are you alright? You look kind of pale?”, Steve asked with a worried frown.

_Get your shit together, Parker!_

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine, Mr. Captain America, Sir. Please come in.”

He hoped that Steve thought his freaking out meant that he was starstruck and not that he was scared that his secret identity got out.

“Ehm, May will be there in a minute, Mr. Captain America. Can I bring you something to drink? Beer, coke, juice, water? A cup of tea, maybe?”, he offered, while Captain freaking America was looking around in his living room. What the fuck even was his life?

“Water’s fine. And please, call me Steve.”

Peter didn’t answer to that. Instead he went into the kitchen and stirred the pots a few times to stall. How long was May taking in the bathroom? He took a deep breath, filled a glass with water and returned to the living room with a nervous smile that strained his muscles because it was so fake.

“Thank you, Peter. You are still in high school?” Oh no, Captain America really wanted to do small talk. Peter wasn’t good at small talk.

“Yep. Midtown high for Science and Technology.”

“Wow, that sounds impressive. You like it there?”, Captain America, no _Steve – from Brooklyn –_ inquired.

Peter was saved from an answer when May – finally – entered the room. Steve stood up and kissed her on the cheek.

“Hi, darling.” He really had a Brooklyn accent.

“Hello, Steve.” May smiled up to with soft eyes and Peter felt like vomiting.

Peter was mostly silent during dinner. The cooking wasn’t as bad as he had expected. The Spaghetti maybe a little bit too al dente but it tasted quite nice. But it was not nearly enough. He knew how much Steve could eat. His appetite was only rivalled by Bucky Barnes’ and Peter’s. He could practically see Steve holding back on the food front. And he had to hold back, too. There was only so much food you could credit to the metabolism of a growing young man.

May looked over at him, nodding her head in his direction. He knew what that meant. He had to talk.

“So… how did you two meet? I don’t think May ever told me.”, he asked while loading a fork full of Pasta into his mouth.

“Well, ehm… I do not know how much you heard of the Sokovia Accords and the fallout of the Avengers in the aftermath.”, Steve started and Peter choked on his Pasta. He coughed a few times.

“Yeah, erm… we covered it in school. Shortly”, he finally managed to wheeze out.

_And I totally did not fight you on an airport in Germany. And you totally did not drop an airport bridge on me. And you totally did not tell me you were from Brooklyn and that I got heart. Nope… totally did not happen._

May looked over at him. She frowned a little. Peter could sense that that was a conversation for later. But Steve did not seem to notice Peter’s odd behaviour.

“Well, after we were allowed back in the US, Tony suggested that we ‘Rogue Avengers’ should do something for our image. Sam Wilson and I started to visit sick children in the hospitals around town. It was meant as a onetime gig in Brooklyn because I grew up there. But the kids were so happy to meet us. So, we continued. And in Queens I met your Aunt.”, he turned to May, “And what shall I say? I was absolutely smitten.”

He sent May a loving smile and Peter could practically see her melting away. Yup, time for him to flee the scenery. Even just for a bit.

“I’m gonna make some coffee. Do you want some coffee, Steve? Or I can make you a hot chocolate?”, he offered while he started to staple the dishes to carry them over to the kitchen.

“Coffee would be great, thank you, Peter.” 

Peter only nodded in return and hurried into the kitchen. There he took a few deep breaths and started preparing the coffee and some hot chocolate for himself. He could really use something for his nerves.

When he got back into the living room, May and Steve were no longer sitting on the dinner table. No, they had moved over to the couch. And they were kissing. Right there in front of him. Captain America kissing his aunt!

He cleared his throat and the two of them sprung apart. With a sly grin Peter noticed the red colour that crept over Steve’s neck up to his cheeks and his ears.

“Coffee is ready.”, he said as cheerful as possible after seeing his aunt making out with Captain America. He sure would get nightmares because of this.

After Steve left, Peter let out a deep breath and felt the tension flooding out of his system. And then he turned to May.

“You could not have mentioned, that ‘Steve from Brooklyn’”, he made those silly little quotation marks with his hands, “is Captain America.”

May looked a little bit guilty.

“I’m sorry, baby. But I didn’t really know how to tell you. I really like him.” She looked at him and Peter sighed.

“Does he make you happy?”, he asked. She nodded and he sighed again. May deserved happiness more than any other person in the world.

“Well, I think, if you can deal with me being Spider-Man, I can deal with you dating Captain America.”

May didn’t answer, just stepped forward an pulled him into a tight hug.

“I love you, baby.”, she said and kissed the top of his head.

Peter smiled.

“I love you, too. And I guess it’s only fair. I also never told you who Steve from Brooklyn was.”

May furrowed her eyebrows. “I don’t get…”, then she froze, “Oh my god, What the -?”


	2. Mr. Sta-ark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter talks to Mr. Stark about Mays new relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> Thank you so much for the comments and the kudos! This week I planned a few things ahead that are definitely going to happen in this fic. But if you have some wishes, tell me and I will look if and where they are fitting in :)  
> Again I am sorry for mistakes. I haven't written longer texts in English since I've finished school 7 years ago.  
> Have a lovely day/ evening/ morning/ night whereever you are.

Peter was in an excellent mood. Why? Because today was Friday. Not an ordinary Friday. No today Happy was going to pick him up and take him to the compound. The last two compound-Fridays were cancelled, because Mr. Stark had two important business trips. Due to this business trips a lot of his lab days were cancelled too. But now he could finally spend a whole weekend with Mr. Stark again. And Mr. Stark had sent him a message that Colonel Rhodes was home, too. This most of the times meant lots and lots of Take Out. And movie night. And given the fact that Mr. Stark and Colonel Rhodes hadn’t seen each other three months, they would probably spend the movie nights without the team. Which was even better, because Peter really had no idea how he could handle Steve (from Brooklyn) right now.

May had promised not to tell her boyfriend about Peter’s superhero gig. Because of that Spider-Man had to act like everything was completely normal and as if none of his teammates was dating his aunt. Yeah, so movie night without the team was the best thing that could happen to him now. Maybe he could put his puppy dog eyes to a good use and could also dodge the team training on Saturday.

He left school, waved his goodbyes to Ned and MJ and headed to the little side street Happy used to pick him up to not raise any suspicions. Peter wanted to keep a low profile. Did it suck that most of his classmates, and probably most of his teachers too, did not believe his story about the Stark internship? It did. But on the other side, if no one believed him than no one could draw the line from Peter hanging out with Mr. Stark to Peter being Spider-Man.

Instead of Happy’s familiar black Audi there was a silver one waiting for him. Peter’s grin got even wider. Mr. Stark was picking him up personally. He climbed into the car on the passenger’s side.

“Hi, Mr. Stark. How are you doing?”, he greeted his mentor.

Mr. Stark smiled at him. Peter loved that smiled. It was completely different from the smile he had seen on TV for years. It was warm and welcoming and in Peter’s eyes one of the best things in the world. And he counted himself lucky that he got these smiles so often.

“Hi, kid. I’m would be doing so much better if you finally started to call me Tony. Really, you are on a first name basis with every single one of the other Avengers. You even call Rhodey ‘Uncle Rhodey’ when the other are not around. But I am the only one stuck with a ‘Mr.’. I’m starting to doubt if I am really your favourite.”

Peter laughed. He loved that Mr. Stark would get so riled up about him using his last name all the time. In his eyes Tony just wasn’t fitting.

“Sorry, no can do Mr. Stark. But I could call you ‘Mr. Iron Man Tony Stark Sir’ instead.” 

And Peter was also a little shit. Mr. Stark’s expression was priceless.

“That’s it. I wanted to go to pick up ice cream for the weekend, but little brats like you do not deserve ice cream.”

“No, Mr. Sta-ark! You are my absolute favourite forever and ever.”, Peter whined immediately. “And I had a really, really though week. I actually need a lot of ice cream to get over the hardships I had to endure this week.” Peter really wasn’t above pleading when it came to ice cream. Ice cream was a serious matter.

“What do you mean with a hard week, kid? Did this Flash-guy bother you again? You know I could make him regret ever looking in your direction with a single phone call.”

“No, it’s nothing like that. Do we buy ice cream, if I tell you?”

Peter looked over to Mr. Stark and made his eyes as big and sad as possible. The older man sighed.

“Yeah, we are going to buy tons of ice cream. But now tell me what happened.”

Peter cheered, “Thank you so much, Mr. Stark. Alright, I’ll tell you, but you have to promise that you won’t laugh about it, okay?”

Mr. Stark raised his right eyebrow. “You know me, kid. I would never. So, what happened?”

Peter sighed. He had to tell Mr. Stark anyway, if he wanted to skip team training tomorrow.

“May has a new boyfriend. I met him on Wednesday. And it’s Steve.”

He waited for Mr. Stark’s reaction but there was none. A few seconds passed.

“May’s new boyfriend is named Steve. What’s so terrible about that. Don’t you like the name Steve?”

“No, it’s Steve. As in Steve Rogers. As in Captain America the Avenger Steve Rogers.” Peter gesticulated wildly with his arms.

Mr. Stark still did really react. Peter was getting annoyed. He had a big problem at hand here.

“Come on, say something. You always have something to say.”, he urged Mr. Stark.

And then Mr. Stark started to laugh. He needed a few minutes to regain his composure.

“I’m sorry, kid. But this is just your luck, huh? May is dating Captain America? And here I thought you’re Aunt had some taste.”, he said without any real venom in it. It was clearly a joke.

“This is so not funny, Mr. Stark. I saw them kissing on the couch. Captain America was kissing my aunt. I am scarred for life.”, Peter exclaimed dramatically.

“Clearly nightmare-inducing. Shall I talk to Steve about appropriate behaviour in front of little Spider-babies?”

“No, you can’t say anything to Steve about it. He doesn’t know that I know you. And that has to stay that way. Because if he finds out that I’m Spider-Man, the others will find out too. They hardly take me seriously as it is now. They’ll never do it when they find out I’m a sixteen-year-old loser from Queens.”, Peter exclaimed.

“Okay, okay. I won’t say a word. But I do not like it when you talk yourself down. You’re not a loser. You are Peter Parker. One of the smartest people I know. And I know a lot of smart people. You’ve got the biggest heart I’ve ever seen. The world dealt you a lot of bad cards, but you still decided to stay kind and to spend your free time swinging around the neighbourhood and help the little guy. Not your superpowers make you a here. It has always been your big heart. The Avengers take you seriously. They know what you can do. So please stop talking down one of my favourite people, okay kid?”

Mr. Stark looked at him with a slight frown on his face and Peters swallowed back a few tears. Mr. Stark really knew how to give him a pep talk.

“Thank you, Mr. Stark.”, he said silently.

“Anytime, kid.”

Later they were working in the lab. Peter was upgrading his webshooters and Mr. Stark was working on a new suit using nanotech. They worked silently next to each other. Sometimes handing each other tools or a smoothie. Dum-E had finally learned how to make smoothies without any motor oil in it. They were safe to drink now.

It was getting late. Mr. Stark clapped his hands together.

“Okay, kid. Enough work for today. Go take a shower and then we can start to prepare dinner before platypus comes back home.”

They were not ordering Take-out today. Instead Mr. Stark had decided to cook lasagne after one of his mother’s recipes. Peter, who had heard about Mr. Stark’s sad attempts of cooking in the past, really had to say that it got a lot better since he knew the man. Mr. Stark always mumbled about healthy homecooked meals to help a young man grow. So, the genius had taken it upon itself to learn how to cook. And well, Mr. Stark became an expert in astrophysics overnight. He also became a quite good cook over the course of a few month.

“The thing with Steve and your Aunt is really bothering you, huh kid?”, Mr. Stark asked out of nowhere while he was putting the lasagne into the oven.

“Why do you think that?”, Peter asked instead of answering.

“You aren’t talking a mile a minute today. You usually stop talking when there’s something bothering you.”

Peter sighed. Damn, the man knew him too well by now.

“I guess. It’s just really weird to see them together.”

“Why, because Steve is Captain America or because Steve isn’t your uncle Ben?”

Peter shrugged his shoulders. “It’s both, guess. It’s so weird to see May with someone else. I mean, I know she still misses Ben and that she won’t forget him because of Steve. And I also know that Steve would never try to replace my uncle. But it’s still weird. May deserves to be happy. But Steve is also in the superhero-business. She already worries about me all the time and now she will worry about Steve, too. And we both know Steve. He is super reckless. I mean, he jumps down from planes without a parachute. That’s just crazy. And I do not want May to worry so much. But I cannot step down from being Spider-Man when so much shit is happening on the streets. And Steve will not stop being Captain America. That’s just not his kind of gig. So yeah, it’s all really confusing. And the love eyes they make at each other are even worse than the ones between you and Uncle Rhodey.”

Mr. Stark laughed but came over to Peter an pulled him into a comfortable side hug.

“I’m sure, May has a lot of those thoughts, too. But you are right, no one is trying to replace your uncle. Have you talked to her about all this stuff that’s swirling around in your head?”

Peter shook his head. “No, we were too busy talking about the fact that I was fighting her boyfriend on a German airport once. And that he dropped an airport bridge on me during that fight.” He couldn’t keep his smile to himself.

Mr. Stark let out a barking laugh. “I’m sure that was a very pleasant conversation. Poor May, she cannot even confront Steve about it without telling him about your little red and blue secret.”

“What should May be confronting Steve about?”, a new voice joined their conversation.

“Honeybear!” - “Uncle Rhodey!”, Peter and Mr. Stark exclaimed at the same time and turned around to hug the third man who entered the kitchen.

Rhodey hugged them both and then gave Mr. Stark a light peck on the lips.

“I missed you, platypus.”, said Mr. Stark and kissed his boyfriend again.

“I missed you, too Tones. Do I smell lasagne?”

They were eating dinner when Rhodey asked again, “So, what’s up with May confronting Steve about something. They don’t even know each other, do they?”

Mr. Stark grinned. “Oh, they know each other. I’m pretty sure they know each other very well by now.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“Mr. Sta-ark!”, Peter exclaimed, “this is not funny. Urgh, I really do not want to think about my aunt and Captain America doing whatever you are implying they do.” He shuddered.

“Well kid, they are two grown ups dating. Are you sure your aunt has a night shift this weekend and isn’t using the time for something else?”

“Mr. Stark, stop. I will definitely get nightmares.”

Mr. Stark laughed again. Rhodey looked more confused than anything else.

“May and Steve are dating?”, he asked.

“Yep.”, Peter said with a somber expression.

“Yes”, Mr. Stark gleefully exclaimed at the same time.

Rhodey turned to Peter, “Kid, what even is your life?”


	3. Captain's hot date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for some teamtraining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi,  
> I am so sorry for this super late chapter. The last few school weeks were pretty stressful. I do not know whe I'll be able to post the next chapter, but I'll try my best.
> 
> Thank you for all your comments. I love hearing from you.

Since Peter’s first sleepover at the Compound after the hole debacle with the Vulture, Tony always made sure that Peter had enough to eat. And that included breakfast with everything that he could ever wish for. Pancakes, bagels, blueberry muffins and cereal. Peter loved those lazy Saturday mornings with Mr. Stark. And in his eyes they were even better when Uncle Rhodey was also there.

“It always amazes me how much a scrawny kid like you can eat.”, Mr. Stark chuckled after Peter’s third muffin.

“I’m a growing boy with a superfast metabolism. Can I have more pancakes. I love the chocolate chips in them, Uncle Rhodey.”

The Colonel grinned and handed him another serving of pancakes.

“You’ll need the energy for team training anyway. Tony told me about a new obstacle course yesterday. And I’m sure you will be the fastest again.”

Peter swallowed. “Well, actually I was hoping that we could skip training with the team this weekend. Or maybe – I don’t know – forever.”

Mr. Stark raised an eyebrow, “Why that, kid? You love training with the team. And I love Barnes’ and Roger’s faces when you beat them.”

Peter squirmed. “Well, you know. With Steve dating Aunt May… I just don’t know how to act around him. I mean, officially nothing has changed for Spider-Man. So, I must treat him normally, but I don’t think I can do that after I saw him kissing my aunt. The image is in my head forever. I don’t think I can properly concentrate with him close.”

Mr. Stark and Rhodey exchanged a look. In their eyes was understanding but also something else.

“Well, while I completely understand your concerns, Peter,” Rhodey said, “I think, it’s better to face him as soon as possible. Because if this is all as distracting as you say, it could be a big problem if you must work together with him on a mission. It’s better to face this situation head on and not wait forever.”

“Listen to Rhodey, kid. He is the voice of reason here.” Mr. Stark patted his hand in a mocking gesture.

“Since when do you listen to the voice of reason, Mr. Stark?”, Peter inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Rhodey laughed and high fived Peter.

“There’s a first for everything.”, Mr. Stark mused. “And when did you learn to raise a single eyebrow?”

Peter felt his face heating up, but he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Natural talent, I guess.” He tried to sound nonchalant, because there is no way, he would ever tell Mr. Stark, that he trained his _eyebrow-game_ in the mirror everyday for a month until he finally was able to do it properly. And then he still had the problem that he was only able to do it in front of the mirror. He had to train another month until he was finally able to do it without seeing his own face. But that was his secret, and no one ever had to know.

Peter suited up and hid his face behind the mask. It was weird being full suited up, when the others just wore some training clothes. But the Iron Man and War Machine armours where waiting on standby and Falcon’s wing pack was also waiting to be used. But first there was hand to hand combat training. Peter had to admit, that in the first weeks after the Rogues came back, he had got his ass handed back pretty bad. He normally just tried to web people up from a distance and dodge the attacks, but the other Avengers wanted him to learn to actually block attacks from other people and to attack himself.

Tony was rubbing his hands against each other. “So, I think for the starter round we will start with hm... Spidey and Cap.” Tony’s grin was mischievous, and Peter had to supress a grown. He should have never asked Tony to skip team training today. 

Peter and Steve stepped into the boxing ring they used to simulate a fight with little space to run and dodge.

“Are you ready, Spider-Man?” Steve shot him a short grin. Peter only nodded. He was afraid that Steve might recognise his voice now that he had met his non-superhero-self. He had to talk to Mr. Stark about a new way to disguise his voice.

The fight started. Peter was still stronger on the defence than he was on the offence, so he let Steve come to him and dodged his first punches.

“Spider-Man block his punches and then use his weight and strength against him. You are faster and more agile than him.”

He tried to follow the instructions of the black widow. The next time, Steve attacked, he blocked his punch and used the short open window to land a punch against the Captain’s stomach. Of course, Peter held back his strength to not hurt his opponent.

“Come on, Spidey. You can punch me a little bit harder than this. I’m not made from glass.”, Steve instructed, and Peter only nodded again.

“What’s up with him today?”, Bucky asked Tony, “Normally, Spider-Man is talking a mile a minute during training.”

Peter flinched a little when he heard that question. Great, so everyone knew something was up. They probably where going to inquire him later about it. Why was he always so fucking awkward? If he would have never talked so much, they wouldn’t wonder about his silence now.

Tony proofed once again, why he was Peter’s favourite superhero and saved him. “Don’t worry about Spidey. He didn’t sleep much lately. That sometimes makes him a little bit cranky.”

Peter just nodded. He didn’t want to risk the possibility that the other could get even more suspicious.

“Well, Spidey’s not the only one getting little sleep, right Steve?”, said Sam and grinned at the Captain, who only rolled his eyes.

“Why that?”, asked Clint.

“Well, Steve had a few hot dates with his new girlfriend. Like last night, right Steve?”, Sam wiggled his eyebrows. Steve groaned. “Sam, can we please not discuss this right now?”  
  


“No, no, Steve spill some details.” Clint was really into the conversation now and Peter… he hated every single second of it. He just hoped that Steve was Gentleman enough not to kiss and tell. Because there were some things he really didn’t want to know about Aunt May’s life.

“Well, I met her nephew this week.”

“Not, really the kind of details I was hoping for, honestly. But how did the boy react that his Aunt is dating a living legend?”

“Well, he seemed to be a little bit starstruck.”, Steve admitted, and Peter had to suppress a laughter. He wasn’t starstruck. He was long over that phase.

“Why would you think that?”, Tony asked with a shit eating grin.

“Well, he didn’t talk very much. And when he opened the door, he got really pale. I actually was kind of worried that he was going to faint. The other Avengers laughed. Peter shot Tony and Rhodey a betrayed look, which they couldn’t see, because he was wearing a mask. He did not nearly faint when he opened that door. He was surprised and shocked but a very long way from fainting.

“I thought we were going to train and not talk about Cap’s love life. We shouldn’t invade his privacy like that.” Peter tried, but the other Avengers only laughed even more about that. Well, except Steve. He looked like he hated the conversation just as much as Peter.

“Come on, Stevie. Tell us a little bit about your mysterious dame.” Bucky punched Steve on the shoulder when he blushed.

“Well, her name is May. And she lives in Queens and…”

“Queens?”; interrupted Sam, “Maybe Spidey knows her. Can you get us a picture of Steve’s girlfriend, Spidey?”

“Well, I do not know this lady and there are so many people on Queens. I will probably never meet her.” God, he sounded so fucking awkward. Why can’t this day just be over?

Sam nodded and thought about his answer for a second. “Well, I’m sure Tony can find out, where she lives. And then Spidey can get us pictures.”

“I don’t have a camera.”

“Tony can buy you one.”

“Can you please stop discussing Spidey taking pictures of my girlfriend. God, that sounds so wrong.” Steve groaned again.

“Yeah, and I’ve got lot of better things to do when I’m out on patrol.”, said Peter.

“But we want to see a picture.”, demanded Clint.

“Boys, come on. Let him be. If Steve wants to show us pictures, he will. Give him some time. You must not forget that he’s still very old school with the whole dating stuff. He is probably working up his courage to kiss her hand.”

“You know what, Romanov…”


	4. A weekend with Steve (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Steve spend their weekend together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you have fun. This is a little bit of a filler before the "real action" in the next chapter. ;)  
> Thank you for all your kind comments! They always make my day.

Peter climbed in through his window after his patrol. It was a school night, so he had to be back by eleven. And it had been a quiet night, so he was in a little bit sooner. He dropped his backpack next to his desk and started to get out of the suit. It was a Thursday, so he was at Mr. Stark’s, but Mr. Stark only agreed to tinkering, when Peter had finished his homework. Even though Peter often protested this rule, because he wasn’t a child anymore, he secretly was pretty glad about it. It meant that he could go to bed and sleep after patrol and didn’t had to stay up until the early morning to finish his assignments.

Peter changed into his pyjamas and was about to leave his room to go brush his teeth when May knocked on the door.

“Pete, can I come in?”

Instead of answering, Peter opened his bedroom door. He got a strange feeling when he looked at her. The hair on his arms started standing up.

“May, what’s up. Are you alright?”

He started to panic. Something was up, and he didn’t know what.

“Baby, I’m fine. Are you alright? You’re a little pale.”

Peter nodded and tried to calm his heartbeat a bit.

“But something is up?”, he asked again. Because he could feel that something was up.

“Is your Peter-Tingle telling you this?”, May asked in a jocking manner.

“Don’t call it that. And now tell me, what’s up.”

A guilty look crossed Mays face.

“A colleague got sick and I was asked to cover her shift. I agreed, but it’s the weekend shift. So, it’s three weekends in a row. I’m sorry, baby.”

“Oh, okay. I can ask Ned or Tony if I can stay over. I know you do not want me to stay at home over night alone.”

“Well, I already thought about that. And you know, Steve wants to spend a little bit of time with you to get to know you more. He offered to stay over this weekend, and you could use this time to you know… bond a little.”, May suggested with an unsure smile.

“Oh, ehm…” Peter didn’t really know how to react. If he was honest, Peter didn’t want to spend some extra time with Steve. He liked Steve, he really did, but the more time he was going to spend with him as Peter, the higher the chances were that Peter noticed all the similarities between his girlfriend’s nephew and Spider-Man. But Peter could read it in his May’s face. This was extremely important for her. And she had sacrificed so much for him.

“Yeah, sure. But I’m wearing my Iron Man hoodie all weekend.”

It was Friday afternoon and Peter cut his patrol short so he could say goodbye to May, before she started her weekend shift. And so that Steve wouldn’t find out what his girlfriend’s nephew did in his free time. He dreaded the upcoming weekend. What where they going to talk about the whole time. And what if Steve recognised his voice. How do you even bond with a hundred-year-old man? Peter just hoped, Steve wouldn’t try to give him lectures on appropriate behaviour. The PSAs in school where more than enough. But maybe now he could ask Steve, why he agreed to these ridiculous videos. He never dared to ask as Spider-Man, because he didn’t want to explain how he knew about videos shown in high school.

He changed in the alley where he had hidden his backpack and headed home. When he exited the elevator and stepped onto their floor, he heard that Steve was already in their apartment. It was a good thing, that Peter had decided against climbing in through the window in his bedroom.

He opened the door and announced his presence loudly. May and Steve were sitting on the couch, drinking tea and watching a documentary about Woodstock.

“Hi, Pete. How was your day at school?”, asked May with a smile.

“Okay. We got a new reading assignment. Everyone head to draw a different book and we have to do a presentation on it.”

“Hello Peter”, Steve greeted, “what book did you get?”

“Grapes of Wrath.”

“Oh, I love that book. I can help you with your assignment if you want.” Oh right, Steve lived in the time the book was playing. He probably ha d a completely different point of view than Peter had.

“Yeah, that would be great. I’ll be in my room. I wanna finish the rest of my homework, so I’ve got a free weekend.”

On Saturday Peter woke up to the smell of pancakes. And that was weird, because when it smelled like pancakes in their apartment, it normally smelled like burnt pancakes. Sleepily he left his bedroom and tapped into their little kitchen and froze.

He forgot that Steve was sleeping over, because May wasn’t home. And now Captain America was standing in their far too small kitchen, made pancakes and was wearing the Iron Man apron, Tony had gotten May last Christmas. Peter still was surprised that he survived the murderous glance May shot him.

“Good morning, Peter.”, Steve greeted him happily. Peter was so not surprised that he was a morning person.

“Morning.”, he mumbled sleepily and sank down on one of the kitchen stools. He knew he should probably help Steve, but he had problems to keep his eyes open. It was just too early in the morning.

“You're not really a morning person, huh?”, Steve chuckled. Peter yawned. “Not on weekends, no. But thank you for making breakfast. It smells really good.” He smiled up at Steve. Maybe this weekend was going to be nice and relaxing. Steve placed a plate of pancakes in front of him and Peter started to dig in.

“Well, the others like them a lot. Speaking of the others, I’ve noticed there is a lot of Avengers merch – especially Iron Man merch – in your apartment.” Well, what did Steve expect, Iron Man was Peter’s favourite since the day, Tony announced his superhero alter ego. “I will take you to Upstate New York today, so you can meet the others.”

Peter choked on his pancake and it took a while until he was over his coughing fit. _Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…_ How was he going to get out of this situation? Steve handed him a glass of water which Peter thankfully accepted.

“You alright?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little… ehm… surprised. And are you sure that’s okay for the other Avengers. They probably have to do a lot of important stuff like… training?” Maybe he could talk himself out of this situation – maybe. But he wasn’t very hopeful.

“No, no. This is no problem at all. We have team training in the afternoon, but you can watch. Or you can spend time in the common room. We have a lot of video games and you can watch any movie you want.”

“Okay, ehm… great. But I still got a little bit of homework to do.”

“We can help. I’m sure Tony will be very impressed by your knowledge of science. May told me, you’re in the Academic Decathlon team.” Peter couldn’t help it, he flushed a little. And no one could blame him, his Aunt bragged about him to Captain America. That was kinda cool. But, how would he handle Tony? And Friday? She knew him and would probably great him as soon as they entered the compound.

“But I probably annoy all of your teammates. I mean, they have to deal with fans more than enough and…”

“Don’t worry, Peter. They will like you.”, Steve said with a reassuring smile. Peter sighed inwardly. It looked like he had no choice but to take the pill.

“Okay, wow… ehm… thanks. That’s really cool.” Peter tried to sound as enthusiastic as a he should sound after Captain America just announced that he was going to meet the other Avengers. And going by Steve’s happy grin, Peter managed to fool him.

“Great. Than finish your breakfast and get dressed. We’ll head out in thirty minutes.”

Peter wolfed down the rest of his breakfast and than sprinted to his room, where he took out his phone and wrote a message to Tony.

_Mr. Stark, help! Steve is taking me to the compound to meet the Avengers. You do not know me today. And Friday is not allowed to recognise me. Is Uncle Rhodey there, too? Because he also doesn’t know me. Please help me Mr. Stark!!!!!_  
  


The first answer came like a second after he hit send. It was a series of laughing smiley faces. But another answer followed.

_Don’t worry, kiddo. I’ll handle it. I do not know you today. You’re just another snooty nosed kid ;)_ _. An I will (try to) not embarrass you, but only if you’re wearing my merch today ;)_ _._

_P.S. I think Rhodey nearly suffocated on his laughter._

Peter rolled his eyes, but send his mentor a thumbs up emoji and got dressed.

When they left the apartment building, Steve was guiding him down the street. Peter raised his eyebrows when he saw Steve’s vehicle.

“Are you sure, May would let me ride on a motorcycle with you?”

“Well, sometimes you just don’t ask for permission. Here’s your helmet, put it on and hold on tight.”

Peter couldn’t suppress a grin. Looked like Mr. Righteous was a little troublemaker, too. PSA Captain America would surely be very disappointed.


	5. A weekend with Steve (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two of Peter's weekend with Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!   
> Here comes the next chapter. I planned to finish Peter and Steve's weekend with two chapters, but then I got a different idea. I hope you like.   
> Thank you so much for all your kind comments. It means a lot to me, that so many of you like this idea!

Peter got off the motorcycle after Steve parked it in front of the Avengers compound. He was a little bit jelly legged, but he wasn’t sure if it was because he wasn’t used to riding on a motorcycle – which was so much fun – or if it was because he was super nervous. He was going to meet the Avengers – again. He just hoped that Mr. Stark was going to keep his promise and help him. Peter stared up to the compound and felt intimidated by it. Which was super weird, because he spent every other weekend there. But he guessed it made a difference if you were there to train or you were there to get introduced to your childhood heroes by you aunt’s boyfriend.

Peter jumped when Steve dropped a hand on his shoulder.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. Ready to meet the others?” Steve smiled down to him and Peter nodded. Damn, he really was super nervous. Peter and Steve stepped inside of the compound.

“Hello, Captain Rogers.”, Friday greeted. “Could you please identify your companion with his name and his purpose at the Avengers Compound.”

Maybe Peter was crazy, but Friday sounded like someone, who had to suppress a chuckle. But Peter was super relieved, because Tony had told Friday to help him out.

“Hello, Friday. Of course. This is Peter Parker and his here to meet the others, because he is a fan.”

“Welcome Peter Parker. Please pick up the badge that is printed at your right and wear it visibly on your body.”

“Thank you, Ms. Friday.”, Peter answered and picked up the badge. His eyebrows shot up when he read it.

_Name: Peter Parker  
Occupation: Fanboy_

“You’re very welcome, Mr. Parker.” Okay, now Friday really sounded amused. Peter chuckled and rolled his eyes. What else did he expect. She was one of Mr. Stark’s creations after all.

Steve lead Peter to the common area. Peter took a deep breath when they stepped inside. Bracing himself for what was coming next.

Sam, Nat and Bucky where sitting on the couches. Bucky and Sam were watching a movie while Nat was reading a book that looked heavy enough to kill someone with it.

Steve cleared his throat and the three Avengers turned around. Their eyes flew from Steve to Peter and back to Steve.

“This is Peter, he’s May’s nephew and he’s spending the weekend with me. I thought he would like to meet ya’ll.”, Steve introduced him, and Peter waved at them shyly. He only got out a nervous “Hi.” Wow, he really felt like some fanboy.

This words where enough to get the full attention. Sam switched of the TV and Nat put her book on the coffee table. Great, exactly what Peter loved, being the centre of attention.

“So, you’re the nephew of Steve’s mysterious lady?”, Natasha asked with a smirk. Peter nodded. Her stare made her nervous. Which was ridiculous, because he knew that he was able to beat her in hand to hand combat. But only because of his senses and his superior strength. Otherwise he clearly wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Has Steve already met the rest of your family, too? I’m kind of disappointed. Steve’s already met the extended family of his girlfriend and we do not even get a picture. Or any detailed information, really.”, Sam complained.

“Well, ehm… There isn’t much to meet. It’s only me and my aunt. My parents died when I was 4 and my uncle died two years ago.”, Peter said with a small voice. He hated to tell his story. And he hated the pitying looks he always got. And yep… there they were.

“Shit. I’m so sorry, kid.”, Sam apologised immediately. “It’s alright, you couldn’t have known.”

After that an uncomfortable silence spread in the room. But it didn’t last long.

“Well, hello. A little birdie told me we have a visitor.” Mr. Stark stepped into the room and all eyes were on him. Rhodey wasn’t far behind. Their eyes went from the three Avengers on the couch to Steve and Peter who just stood awkwardly stood around. Equal grins spread on their faces and dread filled Peter. This was going to be a disaster.

“Oh, yeah. Tony, Jim, this is Peter. My girlfriend May’s nephew.”, Steve introduced them. “He’s a big fan.” Why did Steve always had to say that? Why?

“Hello, Mr. Stark, Colonel Rhodes. It’s very nice to meet you.” Why was his voice so high? Sometimes Peter really hated his life.

“Oh please, kid. None of that. I’m Tony, this is Rhodey. But you can also call him Platypus.”, Mr. Stark said with a wink and Rhodey rolled his eyes. “I see, you have excellent taste”, he gestured to Peter’s Iron Man hoodie, “What would you say of taking one if the Iron Man suits out?” Peter gaped at him. Mr. Stark never let him use the Iron Man suits. It’s not like Peter really needed to, because he already had an awesome suit, but just thinking about flying one of Mr. Stark’s suits made him giddy with anticipation.

“I’d love –“, Peter started, but got interrupted by Steve. “Absolutely not! He’s just a kid. You will not let him fly one of your suits.”

“Oh, come on, Cap. Don’t be a spoilsport. Friday’s there and can take over control of the suit any time.”, Mr. Stark argued on Peter’s behalf. He could not believe that this was really happening.

“Tones, I don’t think, that’s a good idea. I do not think, his aunt would like the thought of her nephew flying around in a weaponised suit of metal.”, Rhodey argued.

“I don’t have to tell her.”, Peter threw in. “I mean, we also won’t tell her, that I was riding on Steve’s motorcycle to get here.”

Mr. Stark turned around fast and looked at Steve with wide eyes. “You let him ride on your motorcycle? All the way upstate? With the heavy traffic?”, he said in an accusing tone.

“Well, yes. But I was with him. I’m a save driver. And why do you act so shocked. You just offered him a flight in you suits. That’s much more dangerous.”, Steve defended himself.

“Please, I’ve seen you drive. And motorcycles are death traps. Everyone knows that. Especially when you ride. Half of the time you don’t even use it as a mean of transport but as a weapon to punch bad guys. And my suit has every safety protocol there is. Rhodey and I would be there the whole time. And I wouldn’t let the kid fly high. I’m not completely reckless. And I still can’t believe that you would let m- the kid on your motorcycle. And you didn’t even ask his aunt.” Mr. Stark looked really exasperated.

“Now you completely blow things out of proportion, Tony. I do not punch bad guys with my motorcycle half the time and –“

Rhodey touched Peter on the shoulder.

“That’s gonna take a while. The two of them can fight light an old married couple. Are you hungry?”

Peter looked up to him and nodded. He really was hungry. And with Rhodey giving him something to eat, he might get enough calories without the others noticing his superfast metabolism.

Rhodey guided Peter in the communal kitchen and handed him two of the high calorie and protein bars, that Tony and Bruce came up with for all the enhanced people in the tower who had to eat a lot. Peter gobbled them down, before any of the other Avengers followed them into the kitchen.

“Thank you, Uncle Rhodey.”, Peter said and took the smoothie, Rhodey offered him. “Do you think, Mr. Stark would really let me fly one of his suits?”

Rhodey chuckled. “After this fight with Steve. I’m sure he will do it out of spite. But maybe not this weekend. So how are you handling this double-life stuff so far. It must be hard at the compound. Especially acting starstruck by people you already fought and trained with?”

Peter sighed. “It is so weird. I don’t know how to act, and I am super afraid of giving my identity away.”

Rhodey patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Tones and I will help you. Now let’s get back to the others. I think they are done fighting. You can bring the smoothie. And you can give this one to Tony. He will take it, when you give it to him. I crushed some vitamin pills into it. You know how he is with his daily vitamins.” Rhodey rolled his eyes and Peter chuckled. Rhodey and Happy always said his real superpower wasn’t his strength or his stickiness but his ability to get Mr. Stark to eat healthy.

When they entered the common room again. Steve and Mr. Stark were sitting on opposing couches and the rest of the Avengers was also present. Wanda and Clint shot him some curious glances when he walked over to Mr. Stark and hold out the “special” smoothie for him.

“Mr. Stark, Colonel Rhodes made a smoothie for you.”, he said.

“Kid, just put it on the coffee table. Tony doesn’t like being hand-“, Clint began, but interrupted himself when Mr. Stark took the smoothie out of Peter’s hand without batting an eye.

“Thanks, kid. I’m sorry to postpone the flight. But grandpa over there doesn’t want you to have fun.” Mr. Stark shot Steve a stinky look before he drank his smoothie.

Steve only sighed and Peter couldn’t fight the grin spreading on his face.

After lunch – grilled cheese made by Wanda – Peter generously was allowed to watch the Avengers train. _Because it was an experience not a lot of people get_. Mr. Stark and Rhodey looked like they were going to explode with suppressed laughter, when Steve said that. And Peter couldn’t even hold it against them, because it was funny.

He had to admit, watching them train without being a part of it was interesting and he had a lot of time to study their moves without having to react to their actions. Peter notices that Steve hardly ever used his shield to protect his legs properly. Mr. Stark had had a reason to tell him that before the fight on the airport. And Peter swore to use this weakness in the next training session.

Peter’s observations were disturbed by the sound of the Avenger’s alarm. The training groups came to a halt. Tony’s mask retreated when he landed on the ground.

“Fry, what’s the matter, babygirl?”, he asked with urgency in his voice. Peter’s spider sense tickled a little and goose bumps shot up on his arms.

“It looks like some enormous animals are attacking Long Island. There is no very usable footage, because people are fleeing the perimeter in a rush. Most of them are already out of the danger zone. The Police and Fire department are overseeing the evacuation.”

“Okay, team. We’ll meet at the Quinjet in five.”, Steve bellowed out in his Captain America voice. The other Avengers nodded and left the gym to get the gear, they didn’t need for the training but might need for the upcoming fight. Well all except Steve and Mr. Stark.

Both turned to Peter.

“I’m really sorry, Peter. But it looks like you must stay here alone for a while. You can eat anything in the fridge and if you don’t like it, you can order take out via Friday. The common area is all yours. You better had to them now.”, Steve said with an apologetic voice.

“I’ll take him, Cap. Don’t want him to get lost. See you in a minute.”, Mr. Stark said and gave Peter a short nod, which meant to follow him without discussion. Peter got up and murmured a quick “Good luck.” to Steve before he followed Mr. Stark out of the gym.

“Mr. Stark, I can –“, he started, but Mr. Stark didn’t let him finish his sentence. “No. You stay here. Spider-Man stays down for this. I’ll find a deflection when the other ask for him. I’ll tell them your out of town because of personal reasons. But you stay here, got it? No matter what you might think. We can handle it. You will not risk your secret identity for this, okay?”

Mr. Stark’s voice was firm, and Peter knew, he wasn’t in a mood for discussions. He nodded in defeat.

“Good kid. Now I got to go. You can go to the lab and tinker, stay in the common area or go up to my flat. Friday will let you know when we’re headed back.”

Peter nodded again and then stepped forward to hug Mr. Stark. Mr. Stark hugged him back tightly.

“See you later kid.”

The Iron Man mask slotted back into place and a window opened. Mr. Stark leaped out of the window and Peter could only look after him and the Quinjet who got up in the air a second later. He sighed again. He just couldn’t shake off the bad feeling he had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, not sorry for the cliffhanger ;)


	6. A weekend with Steve (3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers return from their mission and there are a lot of feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> Sorry for the delay. I had a few busy weeks.  
> Thank you all so much for your comments. They always make my day. I never could have imagined, so many people liking my story!
> 
> This chapter isn't as funny as the others, but there are a lot of feelings!
> 
> And if any of you have some wishes for some things to happen, let me knwo. Maybe I can fit it in. There definetly will be a wedding though ;)

Peter was crawling up the walls. Literally, because whenever he got super nervous or anxious, he liked to sit in the corner of the room, preferably on the ceiling. He couldn’t really explain why. It just made him feel safe. Sitting in corners already helped him, when he was a little kid, only the sitting-on-the-ceiling-stuff came with the spider bite. He was in Tony’s and Rhodey’s living room, because it felt homier than the common room did. He was worried. The Avengers were out for four hours now and Friday refused to show or tell him any news, because his heartbeat was already elevated, and she was worried to stress him out even more. Normally he would be really touched about her concern about him but right now he was only annoyed. And hungry. But he couldn’t bring himself to eat something.

“Peter, I ordered Pizza from your favourite place, because you haven’t had anything to eat since lunch. ETA two minutes. I recommend you come down from the ceiling and head down to the Avengers common kitchen, because it will be delivered there.”, Friday informed him, and Peter was always amazed by the warmth in her voice.

He said, jumped down and left the living room. He rubbed over the back of his neck, trying to get rid of the on edge feeling he had. He knew it was fruitless, because it was his sixth sense bothering him and it never got away when Peter wished for it. He just wished he could have gone out with the others. He was sure they could handle it, they were the Avengers, but Peter didn’t like sitting by when others were in trouble.

Peter had just finished his second pizza when Friday announced, that the Avengers would be back in five minutes. Peter shot up and started to pace through the common room.

When the Avengers finally entered, he jumped and rushed forward but stopped as soon as he registered their sombre expressions. He noticed the two missing people and he could feel the panic rising in his chest.

“Where are Mr. Stark and Colonel Rhodes?”, he asked with a small, worried voice.

Steve laid a hand on his shoulder. “Tony took a hit. We thought all of the animals were dealt with but one still had some spirit in it and took him down. He’s unconscious but Friday’s scans say it’s nothing too serious. Jim’s with him in the medbay. Peter, is it alright with you, if we stay here over the night and not head back to Queens? I’m really tired and I really want to wait until tomorrow to check in with Tony.”

Peter nodded. “He will be alright, right?”

“Yeah, don’t worry kid. Stark’s as though as they come.”, Nat assured him. But Peter could see the well-hidden worry in her eyes. Still, she wasn’t lying. He could feel when people where lying, and she wasn’t. The anxious lump in his stomach loosened a bit.

Steve looked at him with a guilty expression. “I’m sorry Peter, this definitely isn’t the kind of weekend I wanted to spend with you.”

Peter smiled at him weakly. “It’s not your fault. Don’t worry about it.” Steve nodded.

“Friday, can you order something from that Thai-place please? Just a little bit of everything.”

“Of course, Captain Rogers. Do you also want some dessert?”

“That would be great, thank you.”

While the Avengers were taking a shower, Peter stayed in common room. He was playing with his phone when Rhodey entered the room. Peter’s head shot up.

“How is he?”, he asked the man, who sank down tiredly next to him. Rhodey put an arm around his shoulder and pulled Peter close.

“He’s going to be all right. He woke up for a short while, but he’s out of it again because of the pain meds. You’re staying the night?”

“Yeah, Steve doesn’t want to leave the compound tonight and I also rather stay here close to Mr. Stark.”

Rhodey smiled at him and said with a soft voice, “You’re a damn good kid, Peter.”

Peter blushed but didn’t have to answer because Friday warned them of the incoming Steve, Bucky and Sam. Rhodey brought a little distance between them to not give away, that he knew Peter longer than one day.

The others settled on the rest of the couches and started to argue over what film to watch. It looked like any other movie night, but Peter saw the tension in their shoulders and their worry in their eyes.

Rhodey turned to Steve. “Peter can sleep In Spidey’s room tonight, because there are no guest rooms prepared.”

That was a lie. There always was at least one prepared guest room. But Peter was sure, Rhodey knew that he didn’t want to sleep in an unfamiliar room tonight.

“Thank you.”, Steve answered, “If that’s alright with you and Tony given that Spidey’s room is on your floor. Otherwise Peter can have my bed and I’ll sleep on one of the couches.”

Peter really had to work hard not to role his eyes. Steve was such a… gentlemen.

“Nah, don’t ruin your back. If that’s even possible. It’s no problem at all. Friday already made sure that there’s nothing dangerous lying in around in the Spider-chamber.”

Peter chuckled at the room name and Steve’s shoulders also relaxed a little bit.

Peter couldn’t sleep. Even though everyone said, Mr. Stark would be alright, he still was so worried. He wondered if it would have happened if Peter were helping in the fight. Maybe he would have webbed the thing in that had hurt Mr. Stark. He tossed and turned in his bed.

“Shall I alert Colonel Rhodes of you discomfort, Peter?”, Friday asked.

“No, let him sleep please. Are the others still up?”

“No, Mr. Barnes headed to bed twenty minutes ago. He was the last on up.”

Peter didn’t respond verbally, only nodded. He sighed and looked up to the ceiling. There was no was he was going to find some sleep tonight. He swung his legs out of bed and stood up.

“What are you doing, Peter?”

“Can you make sure, I won’t meet anyone when I go down to the medbay? I have to see him otherwise I can’t sleep. Please, Friday.”

There was a short pause before the AI answered, “I think, you should go back to bed, but I will help you not to get caught.”

Peter smiled up at the ceiling even though he knew Friday didn’t live there. “Thank you, Friday. You and Karen really are the best.”

With Friday’s help Peter entered the medbay about ten minutes later. Mr. Stark was sleeping. The heart monitor next to him was beeping silently. But Peter didn’t need some machine to hear Mr. Stark’s heartbeat. His enhanced hearing took care of it. He took a seat in the stool next to the patient’s bed and closed his eyes. Mr. Stark’s heartbeat sounded different to most other people, but right now it was the most relaxing sound for him.

Peter rested his head on the mattress next to Mr. Stark’s shoulder. He just relaxed for a while and must have dosed off because he woke up to the feeling of fingers stroking through his curls. He opened his eyes and lifted his had a little bit. It was still dark in the room.

“Isn’t it nice of you, to pay your old mentor a visit.”

Peter turned around and looked into Mr. Stark’s smiling eyes.

“You should be sleeping, Mr. Stark.”

“Pfff, I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

Peter flinched at the words. Something Mr. Stark noticed and his hand immediately came up to cup Peter’s cheek.

“Sorry, kid. That wasn’t very funny of me. But as you can see, I’m fine. I can’t tinker for a few days, but I will be back in the armour in one or two weeks. So there is nothing to worry about.”, he reassured the teen.

“But, what if it wasn’t like that. What if you…. And I wasn’t there to help… Maybe I could have…”, Peter stammered. All the anxiety he had suppressed earlier while he was with the team came slamming back in.

Mr. Stark looked him in the eyes with a determined look.

“Nothing that happened today is your fault, Pete. I told you to stay down. And you did. I know I can trust you. My safety is not your responsibility. I’m a grown up and I know what this business is like.”

Peter nodded. He knew, Mr. Stark was right, but it was hard to accept.

“I just thought… you know. After Ben… I could have lost another person without doing anything to help them.”

Mr. Stark slid over in his bed a little bit.

“Come here, Spider-kid.”, he patted the place next to him. Peter didn’t hesitate and climbed onto the bed.

Mr. Stark pulled him close.

“You’re such a great kid and nothing of the bad things that happened to you is your fault, okay? You are the best of all of us. And now repeat after me: ‘It’s not my fault a giant bunny knocked out Tony today.’”

Mr. Stark had started to stroke through Peter’s hair again and Peter felt himself relaxing into the touch.

“It’s not my fault a giant bunny knocked out Mr. Stark today.”, he repeated with a grin.

“Oh come on, kid. What do I have to do to finally call me Tony?”

Peter was woken up by Friday’s soft voice. “Excuse me, Sir, Peter. Captain Rogers just returned from his morning run. I suggest, Peter heads up to his room, while Captain Rogers is taking a shower to not raise any suspicions. I will make sure, no one will see him on his way up.”

Peter blinked a few times, before he realised where he was. He was still in Mr. Stark’s bed in the medbay. They must have fallen asleep after their talk.

Tony yawned. “Well, you heard the lady, kid. Time to head up. Shoo, shoo. I’m sure, I’ll see you, before you two go back to Queens. But even if I’m not, you will not set a foot on this death trap of a motorcycle again. Happy will drive you.”

“Death trap says the man flying around in a big suit of iron.”, Peter answered after he stood up and stretched.

“It’s a gold-titanium-alloy and you know that. Now hurry up before Steve thinks you ran away.”

Peter was just about to leave when he turned around, went over to Mr. Stark’s bed and hugged the man again.

“I love you, Mr. Stark.”, he said.

Mr. Stark’s eyes got soft. “I love you, too kid.”

  
  



	7. Protecting the innocent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve stay's the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> I hope you are all doing okay. Thank you all for your amazing comments on the last chapter. They mean so much to me! I'm not a native speaker, so it feels super special that so many people want to read my story in English.  
> I love you all!  
> Take care in this challenging times :*

It’s been a month since Peter’s eventful weekend at the Avengers Compound. Mr. Stark wasn’t allowed to tinker in his lab for a week, because of his concussion. That meant Peter’s internship days at the tower were spent in the penthouse watching Lord of the Rings and eating junk food. Peter enjoyed hanging around with his mentor without worrying about his secret identity. The two weekends he had spent at the compound with the team had stressed him out enough. He was so looking forward to a quiet weekend with May in their little apartment in Queens. He enjoyed the luxury of the tower and the compound, but their little apartment was his home.

Friday night after his patrol he and May played boardgames while a rerun of “The Nanny” ran on TV. They ordered in Chinese and had a lot of ice cream. It was a perfect way to spend Friday night. But when they had a very late breakfast May sprung a surprise at him.

“So, Steve is coming over for dinner again and he is going to spend the night. So maybe you can do your patrol in the afternoon and come back before Steve arrives.”

“Yeah, sure. What’s your plan for dinner?”, Peter asked between two sips of his tea.

“Oh, Steve is going to cook. He’ll also bring the groceries. He really is a gentleman.”, May said with a dreamy look in her eyes. Peter rolled, but grinned. He liked that Steve made May so happy. And it also was kind of nice to know, that, if Steve ever hurt his aunt and break her heart, he could totally take him down. The perks of being Spider-Man he guessed. He could say, he was getting used to Steve’s and May’s relationship. Even though he still hid his identity, because he was a afraid of Steve’s reaction. And if any more people found out about his identity, it wasn’t really secret anymore, was it?

“Cool, are we going to play some board games after dinner? I’m pretty sure we would totally beat him at Monopoly.”, Peter suggested. He wanted to show May, that he was totally ready to bond with Steve. Even though it also stressed him out – like a lot.

“Oh and honey?”, May added with an uncertainty in her voice, Peter wasn’t used to from his normally so though aunt.

“Yeah?”

“Steve’s going to spend the night. So ehm… Maybe don’t leave your dirty socks in the bathroom again.”

Peter groaned. “May…”, he whined. “But can you ask him to make pancakes again in the morning, because they are really good. And they aren’t burned either.”

May didn’t answer that, only threw a dishcloth at his head.

“When will he be here, so I know when I have to be back?”

“Around five. But he’ll send a message before he’s leaving upstate. I’ll alert you if you’re not here by then.”

Peter was swinging through New York when he heard a scream in an alley not far away. He swung towards the sound and crept on a roof to look down. There were two guys cornering a teenage girl.

He jumped down and silently landed behind them. He kicked one in the back and said, “Two against one isn’t really fair. Anything to say about that?”

He didn’t get a response. He hardly ever did. The other one turned around too and swung his into Peter’s face. Peter blocked the punch easily and used his opponent’s strength against him. In a matter of seconds, he had him on the floor and webbed him there. The first one tried to attack Peter from behind, but his Spider-Sense warned him. This guy also didn’t stand a chance against him.

After he had dealt with the two guys he talked to the girl, who had sunken to the ground and was shaking. Peter knelt in front of her.

“Hey, what`s your name?”, he asked her in a soothing voice.

“Lisa.”

“Are you hurt?”

Lisa only shook her head. But she was still shaking.

“I’ve already alerted the police. and they will be here soon. I will wait with you, but I gotta go, the second they arrive. They mostly aren’t my biggest fans. Would you like to call someone to be there for you.”

Lisa didn’t respond immediately, but Peter waited and tried not to push her.

“I want my Mum.”, she finally said.

“Okay, can you call her?”

Lisa nodded and pulled out a phone from her jeanspocket. But she was still shaking so much that she couldn’t use it.

“Shall I call her for you?” Lisa nodded again.

Peter gently took the phone out of her hand. He unlocked it.

“You know, you really should secure your phone with a code.”

Then he searched her contacts until he found one labelled with _Mum._

The phone call was kinda awkward, because no one expects Spider-Man to call and tell them that their daughter had gotten assaulted. But the mother was amazing. She immediately got on her way and even was there before the police. Looked like the two scumbags had attacked Lisa only one block away from home.

The mother thanked him, and Lisa even gave him a short hug. Then he had to go, because the police were arriving.

The first thing he did, when he came home, was giving May a tight hug, because he was glad, he had her in his life. And then he hit the shower, because he smelled. At least that’s what May had said.

Steve’s cooking skills were amazing. He had made a Burgers with sweet potato wedges and salad. And because Steve was cooking, there was a lot of food, because he had a super metabolism and overcalculated for Peter and May. Which was very good for Peter, because it meant that he could eat enough over the evening.

After dinner they played Uno. Steve was extremely bad at it, because he couldn’t handle May’s and Peter’s extra rules. Their rounds were super-fast, and Steve always ended up last with still a lot of cards left. 

They also watched a movie before bed because Steve had never seen “Clueless” and that was just wrong. But the ending wasn’t really sitting right with him.

“That’s her brother”

“Step-brother.”, May reminded him.

“Yeah, but still. Legally they are related.”

“Were related. Their parents are divorced. They aren’t step-siblings anymore.”, Peter explained with a huge grin.

“Still. It’s wrong. Cher’s in high school. He’s in college. He’s too old for her.”

“We aren’t the same age either, Steve.”

“Yeah, but we are adults. Cher’s still a kid. And why is the dad alright with that?”

“Steve, it’s just a movie.”, May tried to calm him.

“Yeah, I know. And that Josh guy looked a lot like Scott Land. You know, Ant-Man. You’ve probably seen him on TV.”

“Now that you say it, I see it, too.”, Peter said.

“No way. They look nothing alike.”, May argued.

“Sure they do.”

May put her hands up in surrender.

“If both my boys are fighting with me, I don’t stand a chance, do I?”

After the movie, they said good night and went to bed. Peter had just put out the light and closed his eyes when he heard it. You see, New York’s the city that never sleeps. So there were always nightly sounds that Peter had learned to drown out as a kid. After the spider bite it became harder, but he also had learned to live with that. But now he had heard a giggle. And that giggle was close. Like next door close. It was May. Peter automatically focused on the sounds coming from the other room.

“You look so gorgeous.” That was Steve.

“Well, Captain America, you don’t look so bad yourself.” May.

Than there was a kissing sound. Peter closed his eyes. _Oh no, no, no, no._

“Let me take that off.” Steve again.

“That won’t work, it opens at the front.” May.

_What opens at the front?_

More kissing was heard. Peter felt like vomiting. He was listening in on his Aunt and Captain America kissing. And probably more. No, no, no. He could not hear that. That was his aunt! He jumped out of bed and frantically searched for the noise cancelling headphones in his backpack. Mr. Stark had designed them for him whenever he had a sensory overloud. They had different settings, so he could still follow conversations, if he wanted to. But right now, he didn’t want to hear anything at all. He even put on some calm music on a low volume.

He went back to bed. Trying to focus on the music and not thinking about what was happening in the other room. So that was the reason, why Steve was staying the night. God, he was so naïve. He should have known. May and Steve both were grownups and grownups had sex. But still, he really did not want to listen. Nope.

The next morning, he couldn’t look Steve and May in the eyes over breakfast. After awkwardly thanking Steve for the pancakes, Peter headed to his room, saying he had to do homework. He didn’t come out until Steve had left. Acting like he hadn’t heard the shouted ‘Goodbye’. As soon as Steve had left, he sprinted to the bathroom, because he really had to pee.

When he came back out, May was waiting for him.

“Are you alright, sweetie? You were acting so weird over breakfast?”

Peter felt his face getting hot.

“Well, um… You remember I have enhanced hearing, yeah?”, he started, still not looking into his aunt’s eyes.

“Yes, of course.”

“Um… so last night… when you and Steve….”

He didn’t even have to finish the sentence. Aunt May was clasping her hands in front of her face.

“Oh no, I totally forgot. I am so sorry, Peter. I…”

He stopped her mid-sentence.

“Don’t worry, I put on Mr. Stark’s headphones as soon as I realized what was going on. But, you know. It’s still kind of awkward to think about you and Steve doing… you know.” Peter was sure his face looked like a red-light. This whole conversation was terrible.

“I know, Peter. I am so sorry. I will think about it in the future. I promise.”

Peter only nodded, but stepped forward, to pull his aunt into a hug.


	8. You know him?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some thruths are spoken and some angst is happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> Sorry for the late update. I'm a teacher and we started Home-Schooling again. It was a stressful time.  
> Thank you all for your comments and your kudos. They mean the world to me <3  
> Don't be mad about the end of the chapter. There has to be some angst.  
> Have a great holiday season and stay save - and home ;)

It was Tuesday. That meant, Peter went to Stark-Tower after school. They were working on an upgrade of the War Machine suit.

„So, Steve told us, he spent the weekend at your apartment.”, Tony started, and Peter shot him a dirty look when he saw Tony’s mischievous smirk.

“What? I’m just trying to make conversation.”

“Yeah, right. And you definitely don’t want to laugh about me and the fact that I nearly overheard them during you know what.”

Tony’s grin got even bigger.

“What do you mean?”, he asked, feigning innocence.

“You know what I mean!”, Peter exclaimed.

“No, sorry, kid. No idea what you’re talking about.”

“They had – you know – they had…”, Peter struggled. God, this was so ridiculous. He wasn’t a ten-year-old. And he normally didn’t have a problem talking about this topic in general. But it was different with Mr. Stark. And he was talking about his aunt. It was just terrible. He groaned.

“You know, I have enhanced hearing. And I overheard them initiating sex. So, are you happy now?”, he snapped.

Mr. Stark looked at him without pity.

“Oh, how much I wish I could tease Steve with that knowledge. Bu I can completely understand your discomfort Peter. There just some things a boy does not want to overhear. So, what did you do? Banged on their door to tell them to keep quiet?

Peter shook his head. “No, I just put on the noise cancelling headphones you’ve got me and tried to think about anything else.”

“That was probably the smartest move. But maybe you should talk to May about the fact. I’m pretty sure, she doesn’t want you to hear her and Steve fondueing.”

“Fon – what? And I’ve already talked to her about it.”

“Oh, that’s a story my father told me. He really liked to talk about Steve. And Howard once asked Peggy Carter if she wanted to join him for fondue in Switzerland. And Steve thought he was asking her to sleep with him. I still love to tease Steve with that.”

Peter grinned. “That’s amazing. Does the team know. I can’t imagine Clint ever letting drop this opportunity to tease Steve.”

Tony barked out a laugh. “Of course, I told them. He always shoots us a lot of dirty looks when anyone brings this up.”

Peter laughed, too and immediately felt a lot better.

“Boss, Captain Rogers just entered the Tower and is on his way up to your lab. He claims, it’s an important matter.”

Tony and Peter exchanged a panicked look.

“Tell him, I’m not here.”

“It looks like he already talked to Mrs. Potts about your whereabouts. ETA is one minute.”

Tony sighed. “Peter, hide. I will try to get rid of him as fast as I can.”

Peter nodded and grabbed his backpack, before he hid behind the sofa Tony had in his Lab for naps and pizza breaks.

Shortly after Steve Rogers entered the lab.

“Hey, Cap. What can I do for you? I’m kinda busy, so why don’t we make this quick.”

Steve only rolled his eyes, he was used to Tony’s antics.

“The magnet for my shield malfunctions. I fell on it pretty hard during training in the morning. And now it doesn’t only attract my shield, but a lot of other metal things. It nearly ripped off Bucky’s arm.”

Tony raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure, no one tinkered with it? Because that should not happen just because you fell on it.”

Steve didn’t meet his eyes.

“Steve?” Tony’s voice sounded threatening. Peter knew that voice. Tony always used it when he did something he wasn’t supposed to.

“Well, Scott was there and I showed him. He tinkered a little bit. But he said, everything was alright. And it was – until I fell on it.”

“Yeah, looks like everything wasn’t alright.” The sarcasm was very obvious in Tony’s voice.

“Leave it here. I’m gonna have a look on it later. I’ll be back at the compound tomorrow morning. Then you’ll get it back.”

Steve smiled at him. “Thank you so much.” Now that this problem was solved, he had time to look around in the lab. His eyes fell on Peter’s jacket that still hung over his chair.

“Whose jacket is that?”

Peter swore in his mind. He had taken his backpack but didn’t think about his jacket. His yellow Midtown decathlon jacket. Hopefully, Steve wouldn’t see the patch with the school’s name on it.

Tony followed Steve’s eyes. “Oh that? An intern forgot it. I will bring it down to him later.”

Steve raised his eyebrows at that. “An intern? In your private lab? You hardly gave the team access to your private lab. You mostly work on Avengers stuff in here. Isn’t that top secret?”

Tony sighed annoyed. “Well, there are things you don’t know about me.”

“Tony…”, Steve started. “Do I hear someone breathing in here?”

Peter immediately started to hold his breath. Good thing the spider bite also enhanced and his ability to hold his breath.

“You what? Steve are you sure you didn’t fall on your head in the morning? You sound a little paranoid.” Tony dismissed his concern, but Peter could hear, that he was getting nervous. And if Peter was able to hear it, Steve was, too.

“Tony there is someone in here. Why are you acting so strange? There could be an attacker. Or a spy.”

“The only corporate spy I know, is Romanov. She posed as my assistant once to spy on me for Fury. Ask her. And there is no one in here.”

“Tony, that’s ridiculous. Nat’s your friend. And she isn’t here. Her breathing sounds completely different. This is serious. Friday, is there an intruder?”

Tony looked annoyed and Peter became anxious.

“I cannot detect any intruder, Captain Rogers. There are only people in this lab, that are allowed to be here.”

“So is there someone else in here?”

“Steve, stop pestering Friday. There is no one in here. You are getting paranoid. Now if you’ll excuse me, some of us are actually working a job to earn money.”, Tony said and tried to shove Steve out of the door.

“Tony, stop. There is someone. Why are you acting so weird? Wait…”, Steve stopped. Tony still tried to push him, but Steve didn’t even seem to notice.

“Tony…”, Steve started slowly. “Are you cheating on Jim? Are you hiding a lover?”

Oh my god. Steve thought Peter was Tony’s affair. Peter couldn’t let that happen. He jumped out from behind the couch in the same moment, Tony started to laugh hysterically.

With this action Peter surprised both superheroes.

“Peter?”, both men shouted.

“What are you doing here?”

“You should have stayed hidden; I was just about to handle this.”

Both were talking at the same time.

“I am not Tony’s affair.”, Peter exclaimed. And that was not the smartest thing to say in that situation. Because now it sounded like he actually was Tony’s affair and… ewww.

Tony buried his face in his hand. Steve just looked really perplexed.

“Well, I figured that? But why are you here. You hardly know each other.”

Tony and Peter exchanged a look. There was a question in Tony’s eyes and Peter nodded silently. Maybe it was time to tell Steve the truth. Or at least some part of it.

“Well, Peter’s my intern. He won an internship back in 2016. And since then he’s my mentee.”

Steve just stared at Tony then at Peter and then his gaze wandered back to Tony.

“So you know him? You’ve known him for over a year and none of you have said anything about it?”

Tony shrugged his shoulders. “Peter and I had decided to keep this out of the public’s eye, so the media won’t come to any crazy conclusion. Like you know… him being my affair.”

Steve had the decency to look embarrassed about that.

“Sorry, about that. But you were really acting weird. And that still does not explain why no one told me after I started dating May.”

Peter spoke up, “Well, at first it was just so awkward and new that my aunt was dating Captain America. And then Mr. Stark and I just wanted to wait how long it would be until you figured out that we know each other. And May was in on the joke.” Peter just hoped, Steve would believe his lies.

“Yeah, and Friday was in on it too. You know, she acted like she didn’t know Pete when he came to the compound. Oh, and Rhodey was in, too. He sometimes joins us on internship days.”, Mr. Stark added to the story.”

Steve nodded slowly. “Okay. It still doesn’t make that much sense. But if that’s your kind of fun, then so be it.”

Peter silently exhaled relieved. He would have to fill in May later so that she could confirm his story as stupid as it was.

“But honestly, Tony. Since when do you let employees into your private lab?”

Mr. Stark stepped over to Peter and put an arm around his shoulder.

“What shall I say? Peter grew on me. You know, like a puppy.”

Peter looked at him indignantly. “I’m not a puppy.”

“Yeah, sure. But don’t worry about it. Nat and I secretly call Steve the golden retriever of the team. So you’re in good company.”

“Why am I a golden retriever? And do you give the others dogs, too. And I think that’s kinda off…”

Steve was interrupted by the sound of Peter’s cell phone ringing.

“Sorry”, Peter said. The number was unknown.

“Peter Parker.”, he said, after he picked up.

“Hello, this is Clara Martinez from Queens Hospital. Am I speaking to Peter Parker, the nephew of May Parker?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”, Peter said with an unsure voice. Why was the hospital calling him? His heartbeat sped up.

“I’m sorry to inform you. There was an accident. Your aunt is currently in surgery. It would be the best, if you’re coming to the hospital.”

“I… okay.”, Peter said with a silent voice and listened to the instructions he got.

When he put the phone down Tony looked at him with worried eyes and Steve was as pale as a sheet. He probably heard the whole conversation.

“May’s in the hospital.”, Peter said with a monotone voice. He just couldn’t say more. He wasn’t able to form a coherent thought.

Mr. Stark pulled him into a tight hug. “Come on, kid. Let’s go. Cap, you heard everything.” Steve nodded shortly. “Great then you can tell me, where to go.”


	9. Some Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hospital visit and some changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone!  
> I hope you are alright and doing well.  
> Here is the next chapter. It's a little bit of a mixed perspective, but mostly Steve's. Even though he says like three sentences in this whole chapter.  
> Thank you all so much for your comments, they mean a lot!  
> Lots of love to all of you and take care!

Peter felt numb. Tony herded him to one of his cars, while Steve filled him in. The drive to the hospital felt very short and at the same time incredibly long. The only thought in Peter’s head was: _Not May. Please, not May, too._ He couldn’t lose May, too. Not after they had finally rebuilt their lives after Ben’s death.

When they reached the hospital, Tony guided Peter to the reception, where Peter remained silent. _Not May, please. Not her, too._

Tony seemed to realize that Peter wasn’t going to say anything and took over.

“Hi, I’m Tony Stark. I’m here with Peter Parker. May Parker’s nephew. The hospital called him because there was an accident.”

If the lady working the reception desk was surprised seeing Tony Stark accompanying a teenager, she didn’t let it show. She just told them where to go and Tony led Peter down the hallway with Steve on his heels.

May was still in surgery, so they took a seat on some very uncomfortable plastic chairs. Tony pulled Peter close and the teenager buried his head into Tony’s T-Shirt. Tony, at a loss of words himself, simply ran his fingers through Peter’s hair. Steve sat next to them. Still not really sure what was going on. Peter and Tony seemed to be very close and until an hour ago he had no idea they even knew each other outside of their meeting during Peter’s weekend at the compound. And his girlfriend had an accident and was in surgery. At the hospital they met. And he had thought he finally had a reason to connect a hospital with positive feelings. All he could feel now was dread in his stomach. He envied Peter for the comfort Tony gave him. And he hated himself for that envy, because Peter was a kid and May his last remaining relative.

Thankfully they didn’t had to wait too long. A doctor entered the hallway. She had serious look on her face, but her eyes were kind, when they fell on the teenager curled up in the billionaire’s arms.

“Relatives of May Parker?”, she asked, and Peter shot up from his seat so fast he nearly fell over his own feet.

“That’s me, I’m her nephew.” The words tumbled out of his mouth and he sounded much younger than his 15 years.

“I’m Dr. Gupta. Me and my team did surgery on your aunt. Are those two people you trust with medical information about your aunt?” She looked Steve and Tony up. Searching for any sign that they were not to be trusted.

“Yeah, of course. Steve is May’s boyfriend. It’s new, but she really likes him a lot. And Mr. Stark always looks out for me. So you can tell me everything in front of them.” The doctor couldn’t fight the little smile when she heard Peter’s rambling. Tony shot Steve a look between worry and amusement.

“Okay. Mr. Parker, your aunt got hit by a car on her grocery run. She is completely stable now and changes are very high, that she will make a full recovery. She had a three broken and two fractured ribs, but they did not puncture her heart or her lungs. My biggest concern is her right leg. It’s broken in four places and her kneecap got smashed. One of the breaks was an open wound and she had lost a lot of blood. We were able to stop the bleeding and to fix her and her kneecap. But she will not be able to walk properly for some time and there’s also the chance that she will need more surgery in the future. Her face is scratched, but there are no indicators for other head injuries. But we will be able to tell more as soon as she wakes up. That should be in the next hour. Do you want to see her as soon she’s out of the wake up room?”

Peter nodded and his shoulder relaxed in relief. May was going to be alright. “Yes, please.”

The doctor nodded again. “Okay, Mr. Parker. I will make sure someone will inform you. I have to go, but one of the staff will come to you about your aunts insurance plans and we also have to inform a social worker, because you’re a minor and your aunt doesn’t have anyone listed to look after you in case of an emergency.”

She was gone before any of them could say or ask more. Peter had paled at the words about insurances, but he didn’t dare to voice his concern in front of the two superheroes. But he didn’t need to either, because Tony seemed to already have a plan.

“Don’t worry about insurance or money, kid. I’ve got this. And you can stay at the tower as long as you need to. You can also stay at the compound if you want to, but I guess, you want to be close to the hospital and your school. And if your aunt can’t move around so good when she’s getting home, she can move in, too. I’ve got plenty of space since the Avengers moved to the compound. And…”, Tony had started to ramble about all the possibilities, not noticing that he was overwhelming Peter.

“Tony.”, Steve interrupted him softly and with his head he nodded to the boy. Tears were streaming down his face and he had started to shake.

Tony stopped immediately and turned so he could look into Peter’s eyes.

“Kid, I’m here. Do you need anything?”, he asked, and the concern and love in Tony’s voice made Steve’s heart clench. How close were those two?

Peter shook his head. “She will be alright.”, he said with a shaky voice.

“Yes, she will be alright.”, Tony confirmed.

Peter stumbled forward into his mentor’s arm and buried his face in Tony’s shirt. Tony wrapped his arms tight around the teenager. Peter clung to him like he was his lifeline. And if it weren’t for his enhanced hearing, Steve would have never picked up the soft and barely audible. “Thank you, Mr. Stark.” Steve wasn’t even sure if Tony had heard him, but he saw the genius’ grip tighten around the boy and maybe he had.

Later they could see May. Her face was bruised and her leg was in bandages, but a smile lit up her face, when Peter entered the room.

“Hey, baby.”, she said and Peter sat down next to her bed. He reached for her hand and squeezed it softly. May squeezed back three times. A silent way to say _I love you_.

“How are you feeling?”, Steve asked her with a worried gaze. She weakly smiled up at him, not letting go of Peter’s hand.

“Honestly, I’ve been better. But it will be alright. I’m sorry for scaring all of you.”

Before they could reassure her, someone knocked at the door. In came a young man in a suit with a clipboard in hand.

“Hi, I am Paul Benett, I’m with CPS. Mrs. Parker, I hope you will be better very soon. But in the meantime, we must make sure, that Peter is staying somewhere safe. Do you have any relatives, he can stay with?”, he asked not beating around the bush.

“No, there aren’t any other relatives.”, May said. “Maybe, you can stay with Ned?” She looked over to her nephew who still clung to her hand.

Steve and Tony exchanged a look. “He can stay with me. I mean, he already has a room at the compound and at the tower. We can drive over to your apartment later so he can pick up some stuff.”, Tony offered again.

“That would be great, thank you.”, May said.

“And you are?”, asked the social worker with a sharp gaze. He looked Tony up and down, but there was no recognition in his face. Tony had to supress a snort. And here he thought, everyone knew who he was.,

“I’m Anthony Edward Stark.”, he answered the man. Mr. Benett’s eyes widened and now there definitely was recognition in them now. But he was a professional and did not start to freak out.

“Alright, and how do you now Mrs. Parker and her nephew?”

“He’s my personal intern.”, Tony answered.

“Your intern? He’s in high school?”, asked the social worker.

“I don’t care if he’s in high school or in a retirement home, he’s brilliant and that’s the reason he is my intern.”, Tony said with a sharp edge to his voice. He didn’t like people, that doubted Peter.

“Okay, okay. Well, If it’s alright with Peter, he can stay with you. But I will need some data and a way to contact you. Peter, do you want to stay with Mr. Stark, while your aunt is in the hospital?”, Mr. Benett talked to Peter himself for the first time.

“Yeah, if that’s possible.”, Peter answered shyly.

“Okay, Mr. Stark could you please follow me outside so I can take your contact information. Mrs. Parker, I wish you a fast recovery. And Peter, if you need anything, you can call me anytime. Here is my card.” He handed Peter his card and left the room followed by Tony.

When Tony came back, May asked Steve and Peter to leave the room, because there was something, she wanted to talk to Tony about.

Out in the hallway, Steve took Peter to the cafeteria, so they could buy some food for them and a coffee for Tony.

When they got back to the hospital room May’s eyes were a little bit red and Tony was a little paler than usual.

Peter’s Spider sense tingled and he immediately got worried.

“Did something happen?, he asked with a panicked voice.

“No, no. We’re just a little emotional. Everything’s alright”, May reassured him. “We just talked about something.” She patted on the space next to her and Peter sank down on her bed.

“You know, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Tony when he first came to our apartment, but in the last few month, he kinda grew on me.”, she started.

“Thanks May. It doesn’t sound like you’re talking about a stray dog or anything.”, Tony deadpanned.

“What’s it with you and the dog comparisons today?”, asked Steve with raised eyebrows.

“Guys.”, said May, before the two superheroes could start a discussion.

“So, as I said before, I started to like Tony. But even more important, you got so close to him. You look up to him and you trust him so much. You smile more and you learned so much in the last few month.”, May continued and her voice was thick with emotion.

“And the accident today made something clear. I want to be there for you, always. But there is no guarantee that something like today won’t happen again and in that case I want to be sure, that you’ll be taken care in case I’m not here anymore.”

“May, no. You will be okay, said the doctor.”, Peter interrupter her with a pained voice.

“I know, but we both know that bad things sometimes happen. And I don’t want you to end up with strangers. So I asked Tony to sign for joint custody and he agreed, but of course the most important thing is your consent. So we wanted to ask you if this step is alright with you.”

Peter looked from his aunt to Mr. Stark and back to his aunt. A grin was forming on his lips. “I guess, it’s time to call you Tony now, huh?”

Steve has never seen Tony smile so wide and open as in this exact moment. “It’s about time, kid.”


End file.
